Rahul files affidavit in SC, denies rape charges

Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi on Friday urged the Supreme Court to dismiss a plea against an Allahabad high court order absolving him of allegations that he detained and raped a girl in Uttar Pradesh.

"I emphatically deny the allegation of the writ petitioner of rape and detention by me and say both these allegations are false, malicious and baseless and no cognizance could be taken by any responsible person of such allegations made on a website," Gandhi said in his affidavit before an apex court bench of Justice HL Dattu and Justice Chandramauli K Prasad.

The Congress Lok Sabha member from Amethi in Uttar Pradesh said in his affidavit that he was not in a position to make a statement as to what transpired in the high court. However, the allegations "are totally false, frivolous, vexatious and calculated to harm my standing and image".

Gandhi filed his affidavit in response to the notice issue by the apex court on a petition by former Samajwadi Party legislator Kishore Samrite who was slapped with Rs 50 lakh cost by the high court for levelling charges of rape and kidnapping against him.

The Congress leader told the apex court that the petition against him was filed on "the basis of certain allegations made in certain website, and not on the basis of personal knowledge or reliable information".

The affidavit pointed out that it appeared from the high court order that the parties - the alleged victim, her mother and father - appeared in person and stated that the allegation contained in the petition were "baseless and false".

Gandhi sought the dismissal of the petition and the imposition of cost.

Samrite alleged that the family of a girl from Amethi had allegedly gone missing after a trip there by Rahul Gandhi and his friends in 2006. He claimed that the girl was raped and then held illegally to prevent the story from coming out.

He said an "astronomical" amount had been slapped on him as cost.

He alleged that since the high court passed the order, he was facing recovery proceedings and was called time and again to a police station. He urged the court to stop all proceedings against him.

The apex court had stayed the operation of the high court order in April.